Earlier this year, Longmont resident Chris Kingsbury was lent a book to read by one of his friends.
The book, Once Upon a Boyhood, is an autobiography authored by Hygiene native Robert Forbess which features stories from the first sixteen years of his life. Throughout the book, readers learn about what it was like to grow up in the early 20th century in Hygiene. Forbess — who wrote the book two years ago at age 93 — recounts memories from attending high school in Longmont to meeting his first love in Hygiene, as well as the trials and tribulations of living on a farm that was flooded each spring by the St. Vrain River.
Kingsbury was pleasantly surprised by the book from the get-go, in part because of a connection he quickly identified between himself and the author.
“Very early in the book, (Forbess) mentions he had read a book by Ernest Thompson, The Biography of a Grizzly,” Kinsbury said. “I love that book and as soon as I saw that he read it, I thought ‘that’s cool, that connects us.’ I knew I had to go on reading.”
As he continued to read, Kingsbury was “really struck” by the lessons or morals that Forbess communicated in each chapter, he said.
Little did Kingsbury know at the time, but he would soon have the opportunity to talk to Forbess in person about both Once Upon a Boyhood and The Biography of a Grizzly.
After he finished reading, Kingsbury returned to the friend that had lent him the book and asked how many people knew about its existence. “‘Not enough” was the answer he received.
Next, he turned to Kathe Heinecken, the owner of Barbed Wire Books in Longmont, to see if she could find some copies of Once Upon a Boyhood and spread the word. “The rest is history,” Kingsbury said.
Initially, Heinecken ran into problems while trying to locate copies of the book to bring to the store. While she flipped through the book to find the publisher’s information, Heinecken happened upon the dedication page and recognized the names of three people.
When she contacted the book’s publisher, about two months ago, Heinecken was put in touch with Forbess himself. In their first conversation, “we spent about two hours straight talking about his childhood in Hygiene.”
Forbess connected Heinecken with his niece in Denver who was able to supply her with a box of copies of the book. As Heinecken read, she realized that she and Forbess knew many of the same families, including the family of Bernice Marlatt, Forbess’ first love.
In their next conversation, Forbess informed Heinecken that he was travelling to Colorado from his home in Wisconsin for a family reunion in September. Heinecken requested that he come visit Hygiene while he was close. Forbess’ visit to Hygiene “mushroomed into a book signing,” Heinecken said, “that I couldn’t possibly do at my store because I knew all of these pioneer families in Hygiene would want to be there.”
Heinecken was able to secure the Church of Brethren, or Old Dunkard Church, in Hygiene as the venue for the book signing event which happened on Sunday, September 12.
Approximately 15 members of Marlatt’s remaining family traveled to Hygiene for the event from as far away as New Mexico and Arizona to meet Forbess. About the same number of Forbesses were at the event, as well as many other members of the community. “It turned into a big deal,” Heinecken said.
At the book signing event, Forbess spent about an hour not necessarily talking about Once Upon a Boyhood, but more so about what it was like to grow up in the era of the Great Depression, according to Heinecken. Afterwards, there was an ice cream social event and people in attendance had the opportunity to speak to Forbess.
“There were a lot of ‘you must remember my great grandmother, I live in the house that your grandfather built’ kind of connections made afterwards,” Heinecken said. “Everybody had a personal connection with (Robert) and his family. (Robert) was absolutely delighted. At one point, he said, ‘you have no idea what you’ve done for this old man.’”
Also in attendance at the event was Kingsbury, who was elated when Forbess referred to Ernest Thompson during a speech and when he got to meet and speak with the author.
For Forbess, it was “a wonderful, marvelous experience to be back in my hometown and, actually, my home dwelling.” He said everyone he met and reconnected with in Hygiene made him feel comfortable and special.
Specifically, Forbess appreciated the efforts made by Heineken to make his time in Hygiene remarkable, which included arranging the book signing event, planning visits to Longmont High School and Forbess’s childhood home, and putting flowers on all the gravestones belonging to members of Forbess’s family before he arrived at Hygiene Cemetery.
“I was just so impressed (Heineken) did so much to make (my family) feel at home and special,” Forbess said. “And she did just that. We had a wonderful time.”
Today, copies of Forbess’s Once Upon a Boyhood are available for purchase at Barbed Wire Bookstore in Longmont.
CORRECTION: The article has been altered to reflect the correct spelling of Chris Kingsbury and Bernice Marlatt. The article has also been altered to reflect the correct locations of Barbed Wire Books, where Robert Forbess is from and where he currently resides, and where Chris Kingsbury resides.
